New European Union Financial Rules to Give U.S. Consumers Protection as Well

Thanks to new set of regulations in the European Union, customers of U.S. financial institutions – banks, credit-card companies and insurance companies – soon will enjoy better protection of their personal data.

The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) will force companies to be more transparent about the type of data they collect on individuals, how that data is used and when personal information is exposed in a breach.

GDPR takes effect in May 2018 and will apply to all companies that process data on EU citizens, even if they are located outside EU. It is also expected that large multinational companies, including financial institutions, operating in multiple jurisdictions will adopt single set of rules throughout their operations, rather than try to enforce multiple sets of rules across locations.